Tourism
There is a direct relationship between tourism in Turkey and Turkish state fascism, the arms trade and ecological destruction. Don’t holiday in Turkey!
The companies below are involved in promoting mass tourism in Turkey.
Thomas Cook is a travel company with headquarters in Britain. It owns travel agencies, tour operators, car hire companies, as well as its own aircraft, cruise ships and hotel resorts. There are Thomas Cook travel agents on many High Streets in the UK, so demonstrating outside the branches can be a good way to raise awareness about why people should boycott Turkey and holiday elsewhere.
The Thomas Cook brand can also be found in Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France and China. Thomas Cook-owned tour operators in mainland Europe include Neckermann Reisen (Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland), Spies (Denmark), Ving (Norway and Sweden), Jet Tours (France) and Tjäreborg (Finland). Its airlines include Thomas Cook Airlines and Condor.
Thomas Cook wants to make big profits from its financial services, under the brand Thomas Cook Money, and is hoping to double its 3 million customers over the couple of years.
Over 19.1 million customers use Thomas Cook annually. However, 2018 was a terrible year for Thomas Cook, and at the end of the year, news reports stated that the company lost a third of its value.
One of Thomas Cook’s key destinations is Turkey, and the political situation in Turkey heavily effects whether the corporation makes much of a profit. The company is the UK’s largest carrier flying to the country. In its 2018 Summer Report, Thomas Cook pushed Turkey as its star destination. The company stated that:
“Package holiday bookings to Turkey are currently up 84% year-on-year. That popularity should continue as Turkey sees the highest number of return customers of any destination – 18%, up from 16% last year. And online it converts more lookers into bookers for Thomas Cook than any other destination even though it isn’t the top search term. Thanks to its keen pricing and quality all-inclusive product, it is families that are fuelling the extraordinary growth to Turkey…This summer 61% of package holiday bookings to Turkey are from families.”
Key people
Emre Berkin is a Non-Executive Director who previously held the same position at Turkish company Pegasus Airlines (see Pegasus page). According to Thomas Cook, Berkin has “Expertise in key destination markets, particularly Turkey.”
Other Turkish hotels advertised by Thomas Cook
Titanic Hotels is owned and managed by AYG Group, a company that operates three luxury hotels on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, as well as more hotels in Istanbul and in Berlin. Titanic Hotels is a program partner of Turkish Airlines, a company with extremely close ties to the Turkish government and President Erdogan. The hotel chain also owns a luxury golf course in Belek, close to Antalya. Turkish Airlines is a main sponsor on the golf club’s website.
Paloma Hotels
With headquarters in Antalya, Paloma owns eight hotels on the west and south coasts of Turkey.
Sherwood Hotels
Sherwood has seven luxury resorts on the Turkish coast. The hotels are owned by the Turkish company Ceylan Isletme.
Stone Group Hotels
Seven massive, luxurious hotels on the Mediterranean coast owned by the Turkish company Stone Group.
Alba Group
Thomas Cook sells holidays to three five-star Alba hotels.
Thomas Cook-brand hotels in Turkey
Sentido & SunConnect
Thomas Cook-owned Sentido Hotels offers a number of four and five-star all-inclusive hotels on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast. The SunConnect brand of resorts is part of Sentido. SunConnect has a number of big hotels on the Turkish coast.
Cook’s Club
Attempting to appeal to a younger market, Thomas Cook has established Cook’s Club hotels, of which there is one in Marmaris.
Smartline
Thomas Cook’s Smartline brand has four hotels on Turkey’s coast.
Turkish-owned hotels with links to the AKP advertised by Thomas Cook
IC Hotels, owned by Turkish company IC Holding, are luxury hotels in the Turkish Mediterranean. Thomas Cook sells them as all-inclusive package holidays.
IC Holding owns over 30 companies involved in construction, energy, tourism, industry, air and sea ports. The company’s Chairman, İbrahim Çeçen, has enjoyed a very cozy relationship with the AKP government for a long time, and even has a public university named after him in the city of Ağrı.He was awarded the State Medal of Distinguished Service in 2007. IC Holding has been awarded massive state contracts that include thermal power plants and hydroelectric dams, the building of the Istanbul-Ankara high-speed railway, as well as the construction and operation of airports. The Çeçen family entered the list of the top 100 richest families in Turkey, as part of the new ‘Islamic Bourgeoisie’.
In 2013, İbrahim Çeçen was named in an investigation as participating in leaked phone calls between government officials and business circles. In this investigation, he was accused of contributing to a fund to create a pro-government media, an order issued by Erdoğan himself. He is said to have pledged $100 million, and later promised $150 million because he was interested in constructing the third bridge over the Bosphorus (he won this contract with an Italian partner-company named Astaldi). The investigation was closed due to ‘lack of evidence’ in September 2014.
He has a historic villa on the shore of the Bosphorus, and he has been illegally renovating it despite its protected status.
IC Construction recently landed a massive contract for a new Turkish government building in New York, which “will house UN Permanent Representation and New York Consulate General offices as well as residential apartments on the higher floors reserved for diplomats.” Tayyip Erdoğan and many government officials attended the ceremony for the commencement of the construction.
(photo of Erdogan at IC’s new york construction: http://www.icholding.com.tr/EN/Anasayfa/haberdetay/president-erdogan-lays-the-foundation-of-the-new-turkish-cultural-center-being-constructed-in-new-york-by-ic-ictas-construction-73)
D Resort
The D Resort in Marmaris is a luxury hotel owned by Doğuş Holding, one of the top three private conglomerates in Turkey, which owns 250 companies. Doğuş’s Chairman, Ferit F. Şahenk, is one of the richest people in Turkey, and is a Board Member of the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK) of Turkey, which works with the Turkish government and focuses on foreign trade and investment.
Until recently, Doğuş had controlling shares of Garanti Bank, one of the largest banks in Turkey, and Şahenk was the Chairman. He now serves as Honorary Chairman. The bank’s Chairman, Süleyman Sözen, also serves on Doğuş boards. When Doğus Holding was in control of Garanti, the bank became one of the major funders of the Ilısu Dam, which is subject to massive protests as it will flood land in Bakur and displace up to 78,000 people.
Doğuş has a number of Turkish TV channels, including NTV, which came under fire from the public in 2013 when it failed to cover the Gezi Park protests and unrest against the AKP.
In January 2019 the Telegraph, a right-wing UK newspaper, reported that
“Turkey has already seen dramatic rises in bookings for this year; its beautiful beaches and keen prices are hard for British families to resist.”
Like its rival Thomas Cook, German tourism company TUI profits greatly if tourism numbers to Turkey increase.
TUI, headquartered in Hannover, Germany, is the largest leisure, travel and tourism company in the world, and owns travel agencies, hotels, airlines, cruise ships and retail stores. The group owns six European airlines – the largest holiday fleet in Europe – and nine tour operators based in Europe.
The Telegraph article goes on to say that:
“TUI has also expanded capacity [in Turkey] for this summer, including its new Tui Family Life Ephesus, on the west coast.”
In addition, there are reports that TUI’s Sensatori Barut Fethiye Resort in Turkey will be extended.
In its financial report, TUI states that:
“our diversified portfolio means we will continue to benefit from growth in demand for Turkey.”
A list of TUI’s branches can be found here.
Turkish-owned hotels advertised by TUI
D Resort
The D Resort in Marmaris is a luxury hotel owned by Doğuş Holding, one of the top three private conglomerates in Turkey, which owns 250 companies. Doğuş’s Chairman, Ferit F. Şahenk, is one of the richest people in Turkey, and is a Board Member of the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK) of Turkey, which works with the Turkish government and focuses on foreign trade and investment.
Until recently, Doğuş had controlling shares of Garanti Bank, one of the largest banks in Turkey, and Şahenk was the Chairman. He now serves as Honorary Chairman. The bank’s Chairman, Süleyman Sözen, also serves on Doğuş boards. When Doğus Holding was in control of Garanti, the bank became one of the major funders of the Ilısu Dam, which is subject to massive protests as it will flood land in Bakur and displace up to 78,000 people.
Doğuş has a number of Turkish TV channels, including NTV, which came under fire from the public in 2013 when it failed to cover the Gezi Park protests and unrest against the AKP.
Plush hotels in south-west Turkey owned (or franchised) by TUI
- Barut: Kemer
- Tui Sensatori Resort: Fethiye
- Tui Sensatori Resort: Sorgun
- Barut Arum: Side
- Barut Hemera: Side
- Barut Acanthus & Cennet: Side
- Tui Sensimar Andiz: Side
- Barut B Suites: Side
- Barut Sunwing Side Beach: Side
- Club Pamfilya: Side
- TUI Blue Pam Garden: Manavgat
- TUI Blue: Marmaris
- Akra: Antalya
- Akra V: Antalya
- Barut Lara: Kundu
- Hotel Mutlu Beach: Calis (near Fethiye)
- Hotel Oykun: Calis
- Hotel Club E: Calis
- Hotel Green Forest: Hisaronu (near Olu Deniz)
- Ramos Hotel: Hisaronu
- Hotel Yalcin: Hisaronu
- Papillon Ayscha: Belek
- TUI MAGIC LIFE Waterworld: Belek
- Sensimar Belek Resort & Spa: Belek
- Club Nobilis: Belek
- Barut: Kemer
- Club çamyuva: Kemer
- Pegasos Royal: Alanya
- Club Aqua Plaza: Alanya
- Hotel Serpina: Gumbet (near Bodrum)
- Palm Wings Beach Resort: Altinkum (near Bodrum)
- Bodrum Imperial: Akyarlar (near Bodrum)
- Club Masmavi
- Club Jacaranda
Overview:
Turkey’s second largest airline flys to 105 destinations in 41 countries. It is owned by the billionaire Sabancı family’s ESAS Holding.
Key people and their links to ecological destruction and the arms trade:
Pegasus is run by one of the most influential, wealthy families in Turkey – the Sabancı family. The airline’s parent company is Esas Holding. Esas is the largest family-owned investment firm in Turkey, founded by Şevket Sabancı.
According to the Forbes billionaires list of 2016, the Sabancı family is one of the wealthiest families in Turkey, with an estimated fortune ranging between $20-30 billion. Through sister-holding company Sabancı Holding, the family is the largest shareholder of AKBank, one of the biggest banks in Turkey. The bank was founded in 1948 by Hacı Ömer Sabancı, who became rich, in part, as a result of the Armenian Genocide.
Despite years of public opposition and protest, AKBank has stubbornly funded the highly controversial Ilısu dam being built on the Tigris river, which will flood the 12,000 year old town of Hasankeyf and displace up to 78,000 mostly-Kurdish people.
Pegasus Chairman, Ali Sabancı, is AK Bank founder Hacı’s Ömer Sabancı’s grandson. He began his career at Morgan Stanley, then worked in various positions at the family company AK Bank. He is a Board Member and 25% shareholder of Esas Holding.
He is married to Vuslat Doğan Sabancı, the Chairperson of Hürriyet, Turkey’s biggest selling newspaper. Vuslat is the daughter of billionaire tycoon Aydın Doğan of Doğan Holding, one of Turkey’s largest conglomerates. Doğan Holding owns Hürriyet, CNN Turk, Kanal D, Cartoon Network Turkey, and Fanatik.
Sabancı University and the Arms Trade
In 1994, Sabancı group established the Sabancı University in Istanbul. The university’s nanotechnology research center collaborates with Turkish arms companies ASELSAN, ROKETSAN and US arms company Lockheed Martin.
These companies arm the Turkish military and are therefore complicit in the government’s killings in Rojava and Bakur. The Nanotechnology department is funded by the British Council, as well as other organisations.
Sabancı University has signed a Researcher Training Agreement with the Turkish government’s Undersecretariat for Defense Industries, as well as “the leading companies in the industry as part of the program to train researchers for the defense Industry.” A press release states that “The program will enable systematic flow of information between defense industry companies and universities…and will ultimately help to meet the need for qualified R&D personnel in the defense industry.”
Tourism
Sabancı group’s Tansa company owns the Adana Hiltonsa, Mersin Hiltonsa and Hilton Parksa hotels. It also owns a majority stake in Ankara Enternasyonal Otelcilik, the owner of Ankara Hiltonsa. The hotels are operated by the Hilton Group.
The Sabancı family’s links to the French government and corporations
In February 2018, Ali Sabancı was awarded the Légion d’honneur by the French government for contributions to bilateral economic relations between Turkey and France.
Sabancı Group jointly operates the French supermarket Carrefour in Turkey under the name CarrefourSA.
Sabancı’s vehicle manufacturing company, Temsa, states that today, there are 5,000 Temsa branded buses on the roads of France.
Sabancı and European insurance companies
In Turkey, Sabancı has a joint venture with Aviva, the UK’s largest general insurer and leading life and pensions provider. The Turkish-UK company is named AvivaSA. In its 2017 annual report, Sabancı states that AvivaSA has the “leadership position in private pension fund size.”
Sabancı also has a joint venture with Belgian insurance giant Ageas. The insurance company, named Aksigorta, has 2.4 million clients. Ageas is Belgium’s largest provider of insurance, and Ageas also wholly owns the subsidiary Ageas Insurance International, which is the UK’s third-largest provider of private vehicle cover and fourth-largest provider of travel insurance through subsidiaries such as Kwik Fit Insurance. Ageas Insurance International also operates in France and Hong Kong and holds partnerships or joint ventures in Luxembourg, Italy, Portugal, Turkey, China, Malaysia, India and Thailand.
Take Action:
– Don’t fly with Pegasus
– Boycott all companies owned by the Sabanci Group, over Sabanci University’s collaboration with the arms trade, and AK Bank’s funding of the ecologically destructive Ilısu dam project
– Boycott Sabanci Group’s hotels
– Pressure Carrefour, Ageas and Aviva to break their partnerships with Sabanci
– Boycott Sabanci university over its collaboration with the arms industry, and complicity in Turkey’s war on the Kurds.
– If you are a student or academic, pressure your institution not to enter into partnerships with Sabanci university.
Basic company information:
Global Presence:
Headquartered in Istanbul, Pegasus is a low-cost airline, and the second largest airline in Turkey, flying from all over Europe to Turkey’s tourist destinations.
The company had 27.82 million passengers in 2017, although in 2016 Pegasus announced severely decreasing passenger numbers.
Type of business:
34.5% of shares are publicly traded on BIST (Borsa Istanbul stock exchange), 65.5% belongs to Esas Holding, and the rest is owned by Sevket Sabanci and his family.
Founded:
1990
Number of employees:
5,257
Traded on:
Bursa Istanbul (BIST)
Turnover:
TL 5.3 billion (2017)
Net profit:
TL 501 million
Key people:
Ali Sabancı
Pegasus subsidiaries
Pegasus Asia (49%)
Ownership:
SunExpress is wholly owned by Turkish Airlines, which is deeply enmeshed with the Turkish state and the Erdoğan family (See our background information on Turkish Airlines).
Sponsorships:
SunExpress sponsors events such as the football match of German Legends, known as the “SunExpress Legend Game.”
The airline also cooperates with movie companies and film studios, such as Universal Pictures, to promote films onboard its flights by giving out promotional material. It even decorates the outer aircraft with film imagery.
The airline also cooperates with movie companies and film studios, such as Universal Pictures, to promote films onboard its flights by giving out promotional material. It even decorates the outer aircraft with film imagery.
Global Presence:
Headquartered in Antalya, SunExpress flies to 107 destinations in Europe, Asia and Africa, with a focus on flights between Germany and Turkey.
Take action:
– Don’t fly with SunExpress and its parent company Turkish Airlines.
– Persuade German bus company FlixBus to cut its ties with SunExpress. FlixBus services are advertised on the SunExpress website. @FlixBus
– Write to film studio Universal Pictures, telling that that advertising with SunExpress is bad for their image, as it links them to the Turkish state fascism. @UniversalPics
Basic company information:
Type of business:
A joint venture, SunExpress is 50% owned by Turkish Airlines and 50% owned by German company Lufthansa.
SunExpress Deutschland is a subsidiary, located in Frankfurt.
Founded:
1989
Number of employees:
4,000
Turnover:
1.15 billion Euros (2017)